This puzzle:

VIC: I admire Lynn's thematic tautness and deft touch with early-week clues. Always have. In late October 2010 she did a CrosSynergy titled "A Bone to Pick." The title made me think of "with you." as in, "I have a bone to pick with you." Her theme consisted of ILSAs (in-the-language stand-alones), the first unit of which could precede "bone", e.g. TAILWIND and WISH YOU WERE HERE.

My idea was to use "with you" as a reveal, with four partial phrases that could end with those two words. Falling flat, this idea morphed into, first, phrases ending with "you." And then into song titles, and then love song titles. I had trouble making a grid that would accommodate the lengthy theme — a good time to seek help.

Since Lynn had inspired the idea, I asked her if she'd collaborate. Her initial reaction: "Your proposed theme is pretty far afield from a bone to pick!" But she agreed, made a great grid, and wrote the clues. We pitched it to Will as a Valentine's Day special.